Swan service

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The swan service made for the Saxon Prime Minister Heinrich Graf von Brühl is one of the main works of baroque Meissen porcelain art .

After several years of trial work, the Meißen modelers Johann Joachim Kändler , Johann Friedrich Eberlein and Johann Gottlieb Ehder created the magnificent service consisting of over 2200 individual parts between 1737 and 1742. Never before had a service been created on this scale and with such a lavish wealth of sculptural design.

The eponymous main characteristic of the service is the relief decoration: the plate mirror is designed as a flat sea shell, in which a swimming pair of swans, other water birds and reeds are depicted. Also to be emphasized are an opulent centerpiece for spices and fruits, numerous table candlesticks and splendid fountains. Numerous service parts show figures from Greco-Roman mythology , e.g. B. Glaukos or Galateia riding a dolphin . Almost all service parts bear the alliance coat of arms of Count Brühl and his wife, Countess Franziska Kolowrat -Krakowsky , in a visible place .

literature

  • Ulrich Pietsch (Ed.): Swan Service . Edition Leipzig, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-361-00517-5 .
  • Otto Walcha : Meissen porcelain. From the beginning to the present . Verlag der Kunst, Dresden 1986, 8th edition, ISBN 3-364-00012-3 .
  • Karl Berling : The Brühl Swan Service . In: Belvedere 10, 1925, pp. 80-85.

Web links

Commons : Swan Service  - collection of images, videos and audio files